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STAR TREK Fan's Dying Wish Comes True Thanks To Director J.J. Abrams

This is a heart warming, if bittersweet, story. Really hits home that not everyone in Hollywood conforms to the blood-sucking stereotype. Taken from comicbookmovie.com:

On December 25th, Grady Hendrix posted on reddit a story about his friend Daniel, a dying Star Trek fan, who has a terminal cancer and less than two months to live. Daniel was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 38, and as his wife says, it's been a hell for him. Dan's dying wish was to see Star Trek Into Darkness early, or at least the 9-minute preview. This story spread across the internet in a big way. Director of the film, J.J. Abrams also saw it, and reached out to the family . Thanks to TrekMovie, we now know that Daniel saw a rough cut of the film. In a statement below, his wife thanks everyone for the support:

"Hi everyone, it’s Daniel’s wife, we are of course sworn to secrecy, BUT we are officially allowed to say we saw it and we enjoyed it IMMENSELY as a film and as a gesture…However; Daniel ‘hates’ being an ‘inspiring cancer story’ we his friends and loved ones would prefer for the update to have more of a heartfelt message of giving, especially during this season:

This is a story of us giving something to him, the ‘internet’ community giving something to him and ultimately being a heartwarming gift to our friends, family and so many others. This story of us (and of course JJ Abrams & Bad Robot) being able to give this surprise gift of a screening to a huge movie buff like Daniel, especially a film made by a film maker who obviously makes movies with such care, with a fan like Daniel in mind (and a person like me who knows slightly less about these things). Also, it was truly amazing that a film-maker so secretive as JJ Abrams was kind enough to show this to us.

It is also so wonderful for his friends & his family to finally hear some good news from us, They know how important film is to Daniel & could not think of a better way to please to him. So this gesture really has brought a lot of smiles all around.

It was a wonderful thing to see with Daniel and a wonderful thing to see Daniel enjoy – Making someone as ill as he is smile for any length of time really makes a difference. (At this point making me smile is good too)

This is also so poignant as JJ Abrams took so much care in the first Star Trek movie to at least TRY to get everything ‘right’ for the fans and we were so touched when he was concerned that we wouldn’t 100% enjoy the screening as it’s still being worked on…….Be assured we enjoyed it 110%! We are so grateful thank you, thank you, thank you...

"Cursed be the ground for our sake. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for us. For out of the ground we were taken, for the dust we are... and to the dust we shall return."
- The Book of Eli

You think so? I doubt it, and I highly doubt he'd have actually liked the direction Abrams took Star Trek either. The whole point of Trek was 'to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before," both of the Abrams films are lame 'Revenge' films. And now the villian isn't anyone we actually thought it might be like Gary Mitchell, just some disgruntled Starfleet employee named John Harrison? LOL Give me a break.

All I can say is if this is a new universe, at least they won't have the experience (like they did in the Prime universe) to deal with V'ger or the whale Probe when they show up and destroy Earth.

First off, unless you've seen the movie or know someone on the inside, the character using the name of John Harrison means beans. I mean, no one in any sci-fi movie has ever used a false name, not at all, unheard of. Second of all, yes, Star Trek is about the whole "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before" thing.. on the surface. What it REALLY was about at its core was improving humanity and the human condition, expanding our horizons, becoming a more united and understanding race, and that's exactly what JJ did here, and that's why Gene WOULD be proud of him.

What it REALLY was about at its core was improving humanity and the human condition, expanding our horizons, becoming a more united and understanding race, and that's exactly what JJ did here

Other than JJ being a nice guy and letting a dying man see the movie first, where exactly do you see any of the above, i.e. 'expanding our horizons' in either of the Abrams films? All I see is Abrams turning Trek into his own version of Star Wars, with LENS FLARE!!!

Of course, you’ve already the got the cold-hearted brigade all over the Internet saying that JJ and Paramount did this for the press and PR. Fact is, neither Paramount nor Abrams’ representatives have said anything about this before or since. The only reason why it’s now known is because the fan’s family and friends have mentioned it. If not for them I doubt anyone would know anything about this.

So easy to be cynical about a story like this. Good to see that the shallow crew have already come out with their unoriginally self-important, feeble-minded garbage.

I think this story is awesome. JJ Abrams is a class act. Love or hate the new films......it doesn't matter. This isn't about the movie itself but compassion shown to a dying fan and a director doing something he didn't HAVE to do to fulfill a dying wish. How is there anything to be cynical about. It's a shame that people instantly try to find an agenda on stories like these. Wish there were more compassionate people in this world! I agree with Akai....Gene would be proud of the gesture. The whole escessence is bettering humanity as Uncle Montork pointed out.....and kind acts like this do just that.

Abrams' kind gesture to Daniel is what I meant. He did enjoy the film and that was what made him happy. That's is something Gene Roddenberry would do. I read somewhere that Geordi LaForge was named after a fan that was in a similar situation to Daniel.

Diagnosed with terminal cancer, Daniel Craft, director of the New York Asian Film Festival, was allowed to see an early cut of the upcoming Star Trek film nearly five months ahead of its release date.

At a time when he didn't have much to look forward to, a Star Trek fan was given the opportunity to watch a rough cut of Star Trek: Into Darkness just days before he died.

When New York-based film buff Daniel Craft was told he had terminal cancer less than six weeks ago, Craft's friends and family took it upon themselves to make his last days as happy and comfortable as possible. His friend Doug posted a plea from Craft's wife, Paige, on the popular Internet message board Reddit, and the message was picked up by social media and the press until it eventually found its way to J.J. Abrams. The director granted him access to see an early edited version of the film, which isn't set to be released until May.

“A day or so after the thread began, Paige, Dan’s wife, got a voicemail from JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof that was very nice and very straightforward: a producer for the movie would get in touch with them," friend Grady Hendrix wrote in a follow-up post on Reddit. "The next day, one of the film’s producers showed up at the door of their apartment with a DVD containing a very rough cut of Star Trek: Into Darkness in his hands. Paige had made popcorn, Dan had spent the previous day resting so he could sit through the movie, and after signing about 200 non-disclosure agreements they watched the film and had a blast."

"J.J. Abrams and the producer who came to give them the early cut told Paige and Dan, 'Please don't judge this -- it's very rough, but we wanted you to see what we had,'" Hendrix told The Hollywood Reporter. "Of course, he loved the film. It was the last thing he got to do before he passed away."

After watching the film, Craft went back to bed and didn’t get out again. His wife took him to the hospital for hospice care on Friday, and at 10:15 pm, with his wife and his brother by his side, Dan died. He was 41.

But Craft was more than just a Star Trek fan. As one of the founders of the New York Asian Film Festival, he was instrumental in bringing Asian cinema to the US. "Jackie Chan, Jet Li--these actors have careers in the US because of people like Dan bringing their movies over when distributors weren't doing it," Hendrix tells THR. But like the other directors of NYAFF, it was merely fulfilling a passion; Craft still had a day job: He worked in the data department for MTV until, due to his illness, he was no longer able to work. The film buff was also fluent in Mandarin, and even tried his hand at acting in a few Chinese television series. "He always played the evil white guy," Hendrix says. His biggest claim to fame might have been as an extra in Kill Bill Vol. 1, where Hendrix says Craft was "the bald white guy dancing on a dance floor."

While thanking the people at Bad Robot, Abrams, Lindelof, and the Reddit community for their generosity in helping a stranger, Hendrix tells THR that Craft would have never asked for the kind of attention he is now receiving. "Dan would be rolling his eyes at being 'the inspirational cancer story,' but he's done a lot for movies over the years," Hendrix says. "It's nice that the movies finally did something for him."

Other than JJ being a nice guy and letting a dying man see the movie first, where exactly do you see any of the above, i.e. 'expanding our horizons' in either of the Abrams films? All I see is Abrams turning Trek into his own version of Star Wars, with LENS FLARE!!!

I didn't say JJ did that. This isn't about what JJ re-imagined, it's about what Gene created and how something JJ did in real life relates to Gene's vision of us - all of humanity - for the future, and how we will hopefully treat each other. THAT is what I believe Gene would be proud of. Not of what JJ did with Star Trek, but of what JJ did in real life that helps to hopefully lead us closer to the way humanity is portrayed in Gene's Star Trek.